The Day the Clown Cried Page #15

HELMUT:

All right ... all right.

The men move back to give him room. Frantically, he tries

to think of something to do ... he knows it must be great

... or else his myth will explode. He walks around in a

little circle, trying, trying to think of something.

Finally he faces them. He bows his legs and pretends he's a

bow-legged man trying to walk a high wire, but he's so

frightened the result is pathetic, not funny.

PAN SHOT - PRISONERS

The camera works across their faces, which are

expressionless.

MED. SHOT - HELMUT

Seeing that he is getting no reaction from his "audience",

Helmut tries something else.

He pulls his shirt over his head and walks around like a

headless man. He pretends to trip over some unseen object,

peers through the front of his shirt at it, and stamps on

the object. Again he tries to walk over it, and again he

slips.

MED. SHOT - HELMUT, MEN

as Helmut starts to repeat the same routine, many of the men

are openly contemptuous. Galt wears a smirk. Keltner,

unable to watch Helmut's degradation, moves away. Others

express their disappointment, their disdain.

MEN:

If he's Germany's greatest clown,

God help the Fatherland.

Doork, the Great!

You got paid for that?

To go without food is bad enough,

but to have to watch that!

2ND NEW PRISONER

(accusingly)

You're not the clown I saw.

You lied. You're big all right.

A big liar.

4TH NEW PRISONER

(contemptuously)

And I was going to tell my kids!

UHLMANN:

He's no clown. Not even a bad one.

HELMUT:

I am. I am a clown!

They move away from him.

HELMUT:

(continuing)

Give me a chance. I just got started.

But the men continue to walk away. Helmut tries to do a

hand stand, but his hands slip in the mud, and he lands

ignominously on all fours. When he looks up, only Adolf,

Galt and Uhlmann remain.

ADOLF:

(sadly)

That's what we've been eating

our hearts out to see!

(a beat)

You stink.

You really stink.

HELMUT:

I ... I slipped. I can do it.

Seeing the disbelief on their faces, Helmut becomes almost

hysterical. He is still on his knees.

HELMUT:

I am a clown. I am. I am.

He pounds on the ground in frustration. Galt spits

contemptuously, and the three start to leave. Galt turns

back, looks down at Helmut. Very deliberately, he comes

forward to stand at a mud puddle.

GALT:

Doork the Great.

With that he kicks a shower of mud directly into Helmut's

face.

CLOSE SHOT - HELMUT

The mud splatters over his face. He cries out. His hands

go to his eyes instinctively. he kneels there, rocking back

and forth in misery. Then from o.s., we HEAR a tiny,

tentative laugh -- the tiniest laugh ever heard. Helmut

looks up quickly. He isn't sure that he heard it.

Then it comes again, a little stronger. He looks around

quickly to see who has come back to taunt him, to ridicule

him.

LONG SHOT - PRISON YARD - HELMUT'S POV

The yard is empty except for a few prisoners from other

barracks way off on the other side.

CLOSE SHOT - HELMUT

He is puzzled. Then again he hears the laugh o.s. He turns

slowly to look behind him.

MED. SHOT - BOY - HELMUT'S POV

On the other side of the fence stands a wide-eyed boy of

about eight, who is watching Helmut timidly. The ragged

youngster laughs again, hesitantly, as if unsure what Helmut

is doing is supposed to be funny, but finding it so

nevertheless.

CLOSE SHOT - HELMUT

He looks uncertainly at the youngster. Is the child

ridiculing him, too? He leans over the mud puddle and looks

at his reflection. He likes what he sees. The mud on his

face looks almost like a primitive clown mask. Very

deliberately Helmut scoops up more mud and puts a blob of it

on the end of his nose. He waits for the child's reaction.

CLOSE SHOT - BOY

His eyes are laughing, but his little lips are pressed tight

together. He has been taught not to make sounds ... not

even sounds of laughter. But finally what he is looking at

becomes too much for him and the laughter spills out between

his lips as they form a smile. He laughs delightedly now,

satisfied that Helmut is being purposely amusing.

TWO SHOT - HELMUT, BOY

Helmut gets to his feet, bows slightly and stiffly to the

child, and then attempts another hand stand. This time he

holds himself up for a moment and then deliberately allows

himself to fall on his back in the mud.

CLOSE SHOT - HELMUT

As he lands, he quickly glances off towards his barracks,

but from the look of disappointment on his face, we know

that none of his barracks mates are watching. When he hears

more laughter from o.s., he quickly rolls on his side to

look.

MED. SHOT - CHILDREN - HELMUT'S POV

Two more youngsters have joined the first, and all are

laughing excitedly. The first child jumps up and down,

clapping his hands.

WIDER ANGLE - FROM THE FENCE - FAVORING HELMUT

Helmut gets up and bows, more deeply this time, a tribute to

the children's vindication for his claim that he is a clown.

He turns toward the direction of his barracks.

HELMUT:

(screaming at top

of voice)

Come back, damn you, come back.

The children ... they're laughing.

They're laughing. I am a clown.

I am a clown.

He turns back to the children and again bows. He quickly

leans down, looks at his reflection in the puddle, and

scoops up a handful of mud which he plasters on his nose to

make a bulbous, artificial proboscis. He turns back to the

children and in pantomime, pretends to see a fly buzzing

about and tries to swat it. The imaginary fly buzzes

closer. The CAMERA MOVES UP to --

CLOSE SHOT - HELMUT

As the "fly" lands on his nose. He looks cross-eyed at the

mud blob, then swats at it. The blob falls off.

MED. SHOT - CHILDREN

There are now nine or ten youngsters at the fence, all

squealing with delight.

CLOSE SHOT - HELMUT

He bows again, and as his head comes up he looks o.s. toward

his barracks, still hoping that someone will be watching his

"great" success. When he turns back to the children, we see

that he continues to smile -- while tears course down his

cheeks through the mud still caked on them.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. MESS HALL - DAY

The last barracks on the open end of the camp on the

political prisoners' side. Outside the building is a low

counter arrangement with two prisoners behind it serving

mush and black bread to a long line of men, all of whom

carry bowls and spoons.

This time in mid-July, three weeks after the incident at the

fence. The day is bright and hot. Our ANGLE FAVORS Helmut

as he nears the prisoner who is serving up the mush.

MED. SHOT - HELMUT

As he moves up to be served and holds out his bowl. The

prisoner - messman spoons a blob of mush into it. Then he

looks around quickly and, before Helmut can pull back his

bowl, slops another half spoonful into it with a wink at

Helmut, who gives him a grateful smile in return. Helmut

moves on to the bread server, who gives him a big grin as he

slips two pieces of bread into the bowl on top of the mush.

Helmut hurries away, the CAMERA FOLLOWING him.

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